Here Be Dragons
by KibaElunal
Summary: In Hell Academy, (named after Jonathan Hell), delinquents from across the country are sent to learn to become well-mannered boys and girls. Due to the violent nature of some of the students, fighting is strictly banned leaving differences to be settled through the favored hobby: Angelic Layer. New student, Arin will have to fight his way from the depths of Hell the only way he can.


Here Be Dragons – Ch. 1

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><p>Author's Note: For those of you who have never ready any of my work before, I'd like to bid you welcome. For those of you who have, I'm sorry in advance for taking so long to update some of my other work. In truth, I've been having a bit of bad writer's block, and as much as I know I shouldn't spread myself thin with all of these new stories, when I get an idea, I have to run with it quickly before it fades. Here marks the first chapter of my new series on Angelic Layer. For my other readers who are unaware, no need to fret. The story does not require intrinsic knowledge as most things will be explained in the story. I hope you all enjoy the story, please feel free to leave a review or shoot me a message, I'm always eager to hear from readers. (If you do, please be sure to be polite.) Best of luck in life and literature. -Kiba<p>

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><p>Licking my finger, I turned another page of my book, just as the bus hit another large pothole in the road, causing my head to once again make contact with the roof overhead. By this time, I'd gotten so used to it that it didn't even hurt anymore. I found it hard to believe at sixteen my parents had grown sick of me to the point they were sending me to a boarding school; it granted me a lot of introspection. And after that first hour of thought on the bus, I came to my conclusion: my parents were dicks.<p>

My eyes continued to scan the words, trying to block out the noise of screaming babies, exhausted and impatient parents, and the bus driver who not only refused to play any song other than "What's New Pussycat" but belted it out at the top of his exhausted lungs. Truth be told, if not for my book, I'd have lost my sanity hours ago. But that's how it's always been for me. Ever since I was a kid people have always commented things like "Oh he's so smart." "Look how well read he is." "He's just a little genius." It's absolutely annoying. That's when I realized what the truth really is. I'm not very smart, the rest of the world is just incredibly dumb. And that included my parents, as well as every miserable soul on this damned bus-ride to Hell.

No joke, the school is called Hell Academy. Named after Jonathan Hell, some rich dude who decided he was going to contribute to society by making a school for us poor, delinquent children to change us to upstanding members of society. You'd think they'd find a better name, but no matter, it's probably that bad anyway. I sighed, turning the page to find it was the last in the book. Snapping it shut, I placed it back in my bag and took a look out the window. Nothing but wheat for as far as the eye can see. Half way across the country, and still absolutely boring. Man, this sucks. Soon however, I could see the spires of the school rising up from the sea of amber like some Arabian Nights story. I doubted that inside I'd find a magic lamp or any sort of treasure.

A rustic sign on the side of the road simply read "Welcome to Alliance", which may as well have said "Sorry kid, you're screwed. It's as bad as you thought it was." Sure enough, there was hardly anything inside of the city. Bus station, grocery store, court house…my eyes traveled towards the large building made of shimmering green glass and for a moment my heart rose. Alliance City Mall. So there was hope! I'd have to spend time checking that later unfortunately. As much as I wanted to just say screw it, and ditch school, my parents (and the dean) made it apparent that if I missed orientation I was basically homeless for the next eighteen weeks.

Finally, the bus began to pull to a stop, the hydraulic doors opening with a hiss as I snagged my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. I began to pull down my suitcase when a large person behind me reached up towards it. "Here kid, let me help."

"That's not necessary." I replied, pulling on it, but the guy grabbed it anyway.

"That may be heavy for a kid, just let me…"

"I don't need your help." I growled jerking it from his grasp. "I'm not a kid okay? I appreciate the offer, but I'm not some wimpy five year old who can't carry his own cup without dropping it on the ground! So back off." Now in possession of my belongings I stormed out of the bus, leaving the stunned man on the smelly rolling turd.

I swear adults were so stupid sometimes! In my mass media class at my old school, our teacher talked about how the national average reading level was that of a nine year old. Honestly, not that surprised. I strolled across the city towards the school, a half-hour walk from the bus stop. Soon enough, I stood at the gates where the courtyard spanned out towards the front doors of the school. All around me as I walked, parents were hugging their kids goodbye, telling them not to forget to brush their teeth and junk like that. For a moment, I almost wished my parents were here to tell me goodbye…then I remembered they did when they decided to send me to this shithole. Instead, I waded through the sea of mushy affection and overly dramatic tearful farewells and proceeded across the grounds.

I just wanted to go to orientation. The sooner I got out and went to my dorm, the sooner I could become adjusted to the stupidity of my roommate and the sooner I could go to sleep. One day down, one hundred and twenty five to go. Suddenly, there was a searing pain that struck me from above and sent me on to my back on the ground. My head, already weakened from the bus ride, throbbed and for a moment I prayed that I hadn't suffered any brain damage that would put me on the same level as these yokels. Turning, I saw that it was a backpack, full of books, and looking up I could see the snide grin of some asshole, obviously the one who dropped it. Well, jokes on him, now I've got his crap.

"Wait!" A voice called as I went to dump it in the trash. Turning to look over my shoulder I could see this really frail kid running towards me. You know how nerds are often stereotyped? Coke-bottle glasses, super tight pants, pocket protector, suspenders…this guy had it all. Right down to the tape that was between his frames.

"You've got to be kidding me…" I muttered looking him up and down. "Let me guess…this backpack is yours?" I asked.

He nodded, walking towards me with his hand outstretched. I reached forward as if to give it to him before tossing it in the dumpster. "No!" He whined, running towards it to dig in the trash for his stuff.

"Next time, don't let someone hit someone else with your crap." I shot back, leaving him to dumpster dive for his books. I could see the same shit-eating grin from the window as before, giving me a nod of approval, but the truth was I didn't give a damn about what he thought. He'd dropped the shit on me, and that made him, in my books, public enemy number one.

Orientation was, as predicted, long and boring. I stood there surrounded by thousands of other students, looking up at the dead who read from a script that I could have sworn was ripped from some cheesy college movie. "Now then…"the dean finally rasped, an end to his insane ramblings. "Report to your rooms as designated by the schedules you've received. There you will meet your roommate and get settled. Dinner is served in the dining hall between the times of 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Dismissed."

Grateful for it to be over, I began the long walk down the marble hall ways of the school towards my dorm. I was grateful to be on the top floor. Most would hate having to walk up and down it every day, but honestly, I preferred not having the loud noise of the people above me while I was trying to sleep. The corridors were long and winding, and while I was on the top floor, I also didn't realize I was at the farthest end of the school. I couldn't help but feel as if this was the dean's way of indicating he didn't want me here. He was not happy when I insulted his tie during the meeting he had with my parents. Admittedly, it was stupid. Polka dots of varying colors on a yellow background? I thought ties were meant to make you look professional, not like a damned clown.

Climbing to the top of what was soon to be my new home, I could already hear scuffling inside of my room. Opening the door, I found the nerd from the courtyard, his trash covered backpack against the wall. The shit-eater was here too, putting him in a headlock and laughing like a super villain from some lame comic book. "You've got to be fucking kidding me…" I groaned, causing the both of them look up at me.

I let out a sigh, ignoring them both as I got to unpacking. I didn't care which one was my roommate, either way this was going to suck. Soon, I heard the nerd gasp for air when he was released as the shit-eater came closer to me, almost like a snake really. "Hey. Sorry for clonking you on the head earlier." He started. "Just trying to teach this wimp a lesson about…"

"Fuck off." I replied, continuing to put my stuff away.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said, 'Fuck off.'"

"Do you know who I am?" He asked me, trying to sound tough and ominous.

Turning around to face him, I tossed my bag on my bed, glaring at him. "Right now, you're the fucker who's in my way." I went to step around him, but he moved to block my progress. "Move."I uttered.

"Listen to me well. Maybe you don't understand how things work at this school, so let me explain. In the wild, fish swim together in schools to look bigger than they are. It wards off predators. So the question is, are you going to be part of my school? Or will I be feeding you to the sharks?"

"Cute." I commented on his little speech. "But honestly, it seems less like you want me to be part of a school, and more like you want me to be a remora fish." I brushed past him roughly causing him to look at me confused.

"Remora fish?"

I looked at him. "See, if you're the big bad predator here…that makes you a shark. Sharks don't swim in schools; you're just looking for remora fish. Those are those little sucker fish that suck off sharks. Sorry buddy, but I don't suck off anyone and I'm nobodies sucker."

"How dare you talk to me like that?!" He snarled. Turning from him, I saw the nerd starting to hang up his posters that were scrawled with Japanese writing and putting weird dolls on his shelf. What a weird kid. "Hey! Don't turn your back on me!" The shit-eater snarled grabbing my shoulder. I turned to look at him and he gave one of his trademark grins. "Better! Now listen knave, you're on my turf, so don't even bother…"

"Fuck off." I interrupted, shoving him out of the room and locking the door behind him. I could hear him pounding on the thick wood, but ignoring him I just continued to get it set up.

"He's going to challenge you to a fight you know?" The nerd suddenly spoke, causing me to look at him puzzled.

"I'm sorry?"

"Xander." He indicated towards the obnoxious sound from our entry way. "He's going to want to fight you for embarrassing him in front of me."

"Xander? That can't be his real name."

"It's short for Alexander. He's been bullying me since I first came here a few years ago."

"Why not just go by Alex?" I asked, unzipping my bag and placing my books on the shelf. Most of them were ones I'd already read, to be honest, I always had a weak spot for fantasy. Where I lived, there was nothing to do but go to the library, so read I did.

The nerd shrugged. "So are you going to fight him?" He asked.

"If I have to. He doesn't seem too strong. He seems the kind of guy who wimps out after you punch him once." The nerd frowned and shook his head.

"That's not the sort of fight he'll be challenging you too." He commented, placing another doll on his shelf. "He'll challenge you to Angelic Layer."

"To what now?" I asked.

The nerd pointed to his poster with the weird Japanese writing and cute girls. "Angelic Layer." He explained. "It's become a big hit in Japan, and after a while, it passed over here to America. It's the school's biggest fad."

"That explains why he wasn't making fun of you for having it." I commented. "So what, this school doesn't believe in old-fashioned fist fights anymore?"

"Well…yes and no. There's a reason why we don't have fights here."

"Why's that?" I asked.

The nerd paused for a moment. "Well…if two kids are caught fighting, even if one's defending himself, both are immediately arrested and thrown into jail for assault. They'll stay there for about a month, and then come back. Unless they fight again, then they're thrown in prison and expelled from the school. So the kids use Angelic Layer to fight because it's not against school rules, and it uses the same basic principles."

"Uh-huh." I sighed, sitting on my bed looking at the poster. "So I don't suppose you're going to fight for me."

He looked at me in shock and shook his head. "N-no! Of course not! I don't fight with them, I just collect them, see?" He pointed towards his wide array of dolls. "No, if you're going to want to fight him, you'll have to get your own angel. At least, you will if you want him to leave you alone and not bully you like he does me."

I sighed, my eyes scanning the dolls one after another. "What's that one?" I asked, pointing to the pink haired girl wrapped in red latex. He had it in a mounted case and everything, raised above the rest.

"Oh, that's Hikaru! She's one of the best dolls in the game. She was used to fight in even the world tournament and won! She's my absolute favorite!" I stood, tapping the glass curiously.

"Doesn't look like much to me."

"Don't touch it!" He shouted, swatting away my hand and wiping off the fingerprint with a handkerchief. I shot him a look that indicated I did not enjoy being yelled at. "Sorry, I'm just super protective of her."

"Alright so…where do I get one of these things anyway?" I asked.

"Well…I know the mall has them. But I think I have a spare blank if you'd like to use it." I looked at him skeptically.

"You'd give me one of your dolls?" I asked.

"Angels." He corrected. "And yes, I'll let you use it. Consider it thanks for wiping that stupid grin off Xander's face."

"You don't have to thank me, it wasn't for you."

He sighed softly. "Yeah well…thanks anyway." Reaching into his backpack he pulled out a plastic egg and handed it to me. Inside of it was a strange mannequin, almost like a modeling doll, floating in a translucent blue liquid. I went to push the button but the nerd stopped me before I could.

"Wait! Don't; you'll spill the shock absorber everywhere. You have to open it in the bathtub." He jerked his thumb towards the restroom we shared at the back of our room.

"I swear if there's a camera in this thing and you're just trying to…"

"Don't be stupid. You can keep your clothes on and set it in the bathtub, you don't have to be in the bath tub with it."

"Call me stupid again." I dared him. He just shook his head with another sigh. He seemed to do that a lot.

"Sorry, just a slip. What should I call you anyway? You never really gave me your name."

"You didn't give me yours either."

He shrugged. "Figured you didn't care to know it."

"Good thought. I'm Arin. What's your name? I can't keep calling you 'nerd' in my inner monologues." He frowned at the word nerd before sighing.

"Kim…" he finally muttered under his breath.

"Kim?" I asked. "No offense but…isn't that a…"

"Yes, I know! It's a girl's name. I didn't pick it out okay? Just call me Jim, it's better that way."

"Alright Jim. Once I drain this sucker, what do I do?" He walked over to his desk, placing a weird contraption that plugged into his lap top. Placing two rings on it, it began to float, creating a tube of light. "Wow, fancy." I gently placed my finger through the light experimentally.

"Slip the Angel in the tube, then it'll have you pick out your attributes."

"Attributes?"

"Speed, Stamina, weight, size, etc. Then just name it and you're good to go."

"Seems simple." I commented, opening the egg inside of the porcelain tub. The sweet sticky good spilled out, running down the drain and leaving the angel sitting patiently in its egg. I picked it up, shaking it off a bit and going to slip it into the tube. "Okay…attributes. Really big, really tough. Don't give a fuck about speed. Just want him to hit really hard."

"W-wait, you can't just rush…" I'd already hit the button and was on to the name as Jim protested. "Damn it. You can't change the stats once you've finished, and with what you picked out, I'm sorry but you're not going to win anything."

"Don't be stupid. Mind over matter. These things are controlled by a controller right? I just have to outsmart that dick and I'll be good as gold. Shouldn't be too hard to do, he's pretty stupid."

"That's not…"

"Name: Bob." I muttered, punching it in and pushing enter.

"Really?" Jim asked. "You named it Bob?"

"Would you rather I named it Kim?" I asked, causing him to shake his head. "Alright done. Slap some trunks on him and we've got ourselves a fighter, let's go." Slipping on the doll's boxing shorts, I stepped outside to come face to face with Xander. "Ah perfect, just who I wanted to see."

He looked at me perplexed, holding up his Angel. "Ah yes, I challenge you to…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Your doll fights my doll, let's do this." Xander seemed taken aback by the appearance of my Angel and as the arena set up, we both placed our dolls on either end of it. It was a bit small of an arena, plain too. He handed me a headset and I looked at him puzzled. "What's this?"

"The controller…" Xander explained, as if talking to some sort of ape that had never seen technology before.

"Weird." I muttered, placing it over my head. The display blinked into life, analyzing the doll carefully. It was named Draco, probably an indication of the dragon shaped helmet it wore and the dragon scale armor. It was a bit on the smaller side; something I felt gave me the advantage. It wouldn't take more than a punch to take this thing out. "Wow…you put quite a bit of effort into that stupid thing didn't you?" I asked, goading him.

I could feel him staring daggers under his visor as a countdown initiated in the display. 3…2…1…begin! Immediately his angel seemed to dash towards mine as though someone had picked it up and thrown it as hard as they could. I managed to make mine put up its arms defensively, taking the blow and sliding back only a millimeter at the most. "Is that all you've got?" I asked, swinging at Draco with a right hook from Bob, but he easily danced out of its way.

"Far from it. Your Angel is a bit unresponsive isn't it? Let's see you dodge this." I watched as his Angel put its hands together, and with a crackle of heat, flames spurted outward, covering Bob in a cone of fire. My eyes widened as the life bar on my HUD began to dwindle quickly.

"A flame thrower?! That's got to be against the rules! Mine didn't come with a flame thrower!" Xander waved his finger in a tsking motion.

"That's because I installed it myself. Moron, there are no rules in Angelic Layer regarding your own angel. You were the one stupid enough to come out with an Angel that didn't have a weapon. And now, you're going to pay the price." Suddenly, the flames increased even further, to the point where I could feel the heat myself. The life bar hit zero a long time ago by this point, and after another five minutes, he finally stopped, revealing a molten pile of plastic and metal that used to be Bob. "Thanks for the easy win, stupid." Xander laughed as he scooped up all of his equipment, leaving me sitting outside of my room with a piece of melted trash.

After a few moments of being stunned, the door opened behind me as Jim sat down on the other side of the door. "Tried to warn you." He chided. "People in this school take Angelic Layer very seriously. If you're going to win, you're going to have to at least pretend to give a damn." I glared at him, handing him the remains of Bob.

"Sorry about the Angel." I muttered. It was hard for me to apologize, but at the same time I had never been so humiliated before in my life. I swore then and there, that I'd end Draco's winning streak, and not only that, but I'd do it in front of the entire school. Oh Xander would pay dearly for this.

"Don't worry about it. Look, it's 6:45. If we run, we can get to the shop before it closes and buy another angel. This time, I'll help you out myself. I know a thing or two about professional level Angelic Layering." I looked at him with a grin.

"Is that really the verbiage?" I asked. Jim simply shrugged and offered me his hand to help me up. Waving it off, I stood with him. "Alright, let's go get that Angel." As I walked towards the entrance of the school, Jim whispered a silent thank you to the ceiling before following after me.

Arriving at the mall, I was stunned by just how much Angelic Layer merch they carried. Hundreds of thousands of colored fabrics, synthetic hair styles, everything. It was crazy how much they had available. Walking towards one of the shelves I lifted one of the male Angel templates from it, examining it carefully. "ICCHAN GO BOOM!" A voice suddenly screeched in my ear, nearly making me drop the thing on the ground. When I turned around to see just who it was that was screaming in my ear, I came face to face with a holographic Japanese man in a lab coat.

"What the hell?!" I gasped as Jim chuckled.

"Sorry, I forgot about that. The creator of the game decided he'd put these holographs on a pressure sensor to scare the living hell out of anyone who bought a product. He's a big fan of surprising people apparently." Jim explained.

"I don't care! He nearly gave me a heart attack!" I clutched the egg tightly and shook my head. "Anyway, got the egg. I'll be needing some other stuff from the craft section."

"You have a plan?" Jim asked.

"Yeah…Xander has a dragon, so…it's best we make a dragon slayer. I've got some pretty good ideas on how to make a knight. We'll need some things." After buying the fabric and buying a miniature layer for practice, we returned to our dorm, eager to try again. Soon, the egg was drained and the both of us were watching eagerly as it hovered there in the tube, waiting for my input. "Alright…so, it needs to be a bit faster, though I still want to focus on its strength. Doesn't do me any good if it can't stand up to those flames."

"Agreed. But, may I suggest perhaps putting more points in stamina rather than weight. We can make armor for it that handles the weight part, but the stamina isn't something that can be increased with equipment."

"Good point." I conceded, typing in the numbers. Now that the physical parameters were set, I'd reached the name screen. I just sat there, staring at the blinking cursor.

"What's wrong?" Jim asked.

"I'm…not sure what to call it." I admitted. "I mean, I put in Bob last time for shits and giggles but…I don't know what to name it now that we're doing this for real."

"Well…I know a lot of people like to name their Angels with a theme. If your theme is a dragon slayer, why not pick someone who is a dragon slayer from one of your books?" I blinked at him in surprise, I didn't realize he'd seen my books specifically. "Don't look so shocked. Historia regum Britaniae? You're a big fan of Arthurian Fantasy."

I thought about it for a moment, when a thought occurred to me. "I've got it." I whispered, typing the characters quickly into the computer. "Lancelot." I mouthed.

"Lancelot?"

"In the Valley of No Return, three knights are sent to rescue Gawain who is trapped in a valley by Morgan La Fey. Two of the knights ended up trapped too, but one of them rode in, slew four dragons and two other knights guarding his entrance before rescuing all of his friends. Lancelot is definitely the name for my Angel." I watched as the ring molded his body to the parameters I'd set, leaving his short brown hair wavering and as his eyes opened they revealed a piercing icy blue. They turned to me, as if asking, "Well? Am I just going to hover here naked?" and taking him gently from the light I looked to Jim with a grin.

I set him down on my nightstand and pulling out the materials I'd gotten I began working to equip my Angel. As I began to sew and stitch, I experienced many pricked fingers, my literal blood and sweat (never tears) soaking into the costume I worked hard to make. Soon however, I had a crimson and black suit that fit snugly on his large body. "It's looking good." Jim commented, examining him closely. "Have you decided on what sort of weapons you're going to give him?"

"I want him to specialize in defense and countering. Xander expects me to be coming after him again, probably with some sort of barbarian or hard hitter, but in truth Draco is much too fast for that. It's better for me to be able to endure the brunt of his blows before countering him rather than making it a contest of attack."

"So…"

"Shields." I explained, picking up the steel Belleville washers I'd grabbed from the mall. Their hole was the smallest I could find, so that when strapping it to Lancelot's arm it wouldn't be too loose or easy to fall off in combat.

"_Shields?_ As in more than one?" Jim asked.

"That's right. One on each arm. It may not be able to endure the brunt of Xander's flames just yet. But in time, once I've gotten a bit more money, I'll improve the hardware of it all." Soon it was finally completed. "There." I sighed, wiping my brow. "All finished."

"Just in time too." Jim added looking down at his watch.

"What do you mean?" I asked, just as all of the lights in our dorm went black.

"Lights out!" The call came from outside of our dorm. In the darkness, I could still see the glowing pillar as it slowly shrank into nothingness, leaving Jim and I in silence.

"This school doesn't mess around does it? It's just like a prison."

Jim said nothing, but the creaking of his bed signaled he'd lain down. Despite being unable to see, I could sense an overwhelming sadness coming from him. It was hard to believe that someone like him ever did anything bearing being expelled from school.

Ah well, truthfully, I couldn't care less. Though it pained me to do so, I had to admit that I enjoyed my first day in Hell. Or at least, I enjoyed making an Angel with Jim. Turning on to my back, I placed a hand over my chest, leaving Lancelot to sit patiently on my nightstand, ready for the coming days and eager to battle. It wasn't long after that sleep took me into its embrace.

To Be Continued…


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